Uchiha Weren't the Only Ones with the Sharingan!

Konoha, on the crowded main street!

The air was so still you could hear a pin drop.

Ever since White Dove had shifted the topic to whether Shisui had come to harm, everyone had fallen silent. They all wanted to hear how the village leaders would respond.

"Shisui..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had just begun to speak when Danzo interrupted him.

"Uchiha Shisui went missing last night while on a mission. He encountered spies from another village and vanished after engaging them!"

Yes, Danzo's explanation was certainly the most suitable one.

The battlefield had already been cleaned up, so there was no risk of anyone finding evidence that Root had been involved.

What's more, Danzo was telling the "truth." Shisui's disappearance afterward had nothing to do with him, so he spoke with complete confidence.

The clan leaders watching from the sidelines could naturally hear that confidence in Danzo's voice, and they wondered among themselves:

"Could Shisui's disappearance really have nothing to do with the village?"

Considering the traces of a battle left behind late last night, his explanation did sound somewhat credible.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, meanwhile, looked at Danzo in surprise... He hadn't expected him to be telling the truth.

Could Shisui really not have been...

If Danzo hadn't told him those things in advance yesterday, he might actually have believed that Shisui's disappearance had nothing to do with him.

"Is that so? What a convenient way to explain someone going missing..."

White Dove replied sarcastically.

He knew perfectly well why Danzo dared to say that.

Shisui's disappearance really had nothing to do with Danzo. But after making such a big scene, White Dove wasn't about to let him talk his way out of it so easily. He pressed on:

"The village can't seriously think 'he went missing' is all the explanation we need, can it?"

White Dove kept up the pressure.

Shisui was the Uchiha clan's strongest fighter. The village leaders couldn't satisfy them with nothing more than "he went missing."

They needed to see him alive—or see his body!

For a Kage Level shinobi to "go missing" in Konoha, the strongest village in the Shinobi World, was a complete joke.

So it was only reasonable for the Uchiha to demand an explanation.

"Uchiha White Dove, Shisui went missing while on a mission. The village will give your clan an explanation in due course, but that doesn't give you the right to pressure the village!"

Utatane Koharu frowned and scolded him.

"Is that so? But with the village suppressing the Uchiha like this, how can we trust its promises?"

White Dove tore away the pretense.

He wanted to make the conflict between the Uchiha and the village public.

That way, the village would have to think twice before trying anything.

That was one of the advantages of making a scene today.

As for becoming Police Force Captain, that was an unexpected bonus. He hadn't planned to move so quickly.

Hearing White Dove's damning words, Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged face briefly betrayed his discomfort. But he soon put on a kindly expression and said:

"White Dove, you may have misunderstood the village..."

No matter how much he wanted to weaken the Uchiha, he couldn't accept that accusation.

"No, this isn't a misunderstanding. The Uchiha can't get any missions through the Mission Center, and we can't even leave the village. There are surveillance devices or Anbu Ninjas all around our clan compound. Are those misunderstandings too?"

White Dove wasn't buying Sarutobi Hiruzen's excuses. His words stunned everyone.

"Th-that can't be!"

"The village really won't give the Uchiha missions, and it's watching them?"

"The village leaders actually did that?"

Who would have thought that the Uchiha, one of Konoha's most prestigious clans, couldn't get missions and were being watched by the Anbu?

It was a complete joke.

But the awkward expressions on the village leaders' faces made it clear these claims were true.

And the leaders couldn't deny either point; both were easy to verify.

"White Dove, you've misunderstood. Someone used a Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails back then. We were afraid they'd target the Uchiha, so we took special measures to protect you!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen explained without changing his expression.

That was slick!

He could actually use this excuse to explain things, while also reminding everyone that the Uchiha were suspects in the Nine-Tails Incident.

He'd managed to defend himself and strike back in one move. A masterful performance.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't know that this was exactly the opportunity White Dove had been waiting for.

The Nine-Tails Incident!

That was the Uchiha clan's greatest stain.

White Dove couldn't expose Obito, but that didn't mean he couldn't clear the Uchiha's name.

"But we're not the only ones with the Sharingan!"

White Dove's words made Danzo tense up.

His left hand instinctively started to reach for his right eye, but he restrained himself.

He can't know...!

He didn't believe White Dove could possibly know his secret, so he managed to stay calm.

"What!"

"Impossible!"

"The Sharingan is so powerful. How could anyone outside the Uchiha have one?"

The murmurs reflected what everyone was thinking.

The Sharingan didn't have the Caged Bird Seal restricting it, but it was so powerful that transplanting one had terrible consequences. That was why nobody else in the Shinobi World had one.

"What about him?"

White Dove looked at the silver-haired figure behind Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Kakashi!

His left eye had a Sharingan.

"...Kakashi was too young at the time. He couldn't possibly have been involved in that incident!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head gently, vouching for him.

Kakashi had been too young to control the Nine-Tails. Besides, his Sharingan had been transplanted, and he was a bona fide member of the Hokage Faction. It was only natural that Sarutobi Hiruzen would protect him.

If he'd known what White Dove was thinking, he would have realized he was worrying for nothing.

In the Shinobi World, where monsters appeared one after another, age was no obstacle.

White-Eyed Wolf Obito had caused the Nine-Tails Incident at a young age and even taken the Fourth Hokage, a peerless genius, out of the picture.

Then Prince Naruto had done even more, saving the world in his teens.

"Is that so... But surely Lord Danzo isn't so young anymore?"

White Dove fixed his gaze on Danzo.

Right. If the Nine-Tails Incident was linked to the Uchiha because it had been controlled by a Sharingan, then Danzo had a Sharingan too. Shouldn't he be the one under suspicion instead?

Compared to the Uchiha, Danzo was far more suspicious.

The Uchiha had at least been seen that night; they hadn't acted because they'd been stopped from leaving their compound. Nobody knew where Danzo had been.

"What?!"

Everyone's eyes turned toward Danzo.

His bandaged right eye, in particular, drew everyone's attention.

The sound of weapons being drawn rang out without pause.

Some of the Uchiha, dressed in Police Force uniforms and carrying Ninja Blades, instinctively drew their weapons.

They wouldn't have reacted so strongly if it had been anyone else.

But Danzo was different.

He and the Uchiha were sworn enemies. It was a case of kill or be killed.

The Uchiha didn't attack him on the spot only because White Dove hadn't given the order and the Hokage Faction was standing in their way.

Even so, the atmosphere was extremely tense. One wrong move could set it off.

"Stop!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted to stop the Anbu, his old, cloudy eyes fixed on Danzo as if he wanted to see through the bandages over his right eye.

But after only a glance, he looked away.

The priority now was to stop the two sides. If they really started fighting, the damage to the village would be too great.

The Uchiha had only a few hundred shinobi, but more than half were Chunin, and dozens were Jonin. With the Sharingan, they could take on thousands of shinobi and still have a chance of winning.

So even though the Hokage Faction had more people, the Uchiha had the greater momentum.

Of course, that was assuming the other clans didn't get involved.

Those clans had nearly a thousand shinobi among them, including over a hundred Jonin and several hundred Chunin. Their overall strength was astonishing.

The clans didn't immediately side with the Hokage Faction. Instead, they looked toward Danzo.

With so many people watching him, Danzo gritted his teeth and gave an order:

"You evil Uchiha brat, how dare you slander me? Take him down!"

As he spoke, two Root shinobi beside him suddenly lunged toward the Uchiha group.

"Stop!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted, but the two Root shinobi wouldn't listen to him. They obeyed Danzo alone, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill themselves if he ordered it.

If those two killed any Uchiha, it would be enough to set the whole scene off.

That was exactly what Danzo wanted.

If a fight broke out, he could not only eliminate the Uchiha in one fell swoop, but also make Sarutobi Hiruzen take responsibility and step down as Third Hokage.

At the thought, he nearly let out a delighted laugh.

(Don't underestimate Danzo's nerve. He'd even dare to assassinate the Hokage. As long as he could claim the Hokage Position, he couldn't care less how many people in Konoha died. The man was completely insane!)

But when the two Root shinobi who had suddenly attacked reached the Uchiha group, something unexpected happened.